blood red
by SyntheticDesire.21
Summary: it seemed everything she knew of is red. her eyes, the clothes her mother seemed to enjoy buying her, her rose from back in the gallery, and- curiously- even her blood covered insides.. -ibxgarry (currently in reconstruction)
1. Chapter 1: dark and creepy

"i like cookies"_ normal human talking  
_"i will break your cookies"_ normal human thinking  
_**"I'm gonna' rip you to shreds"** _seriously angry/demonic entity talking  
_"YOU WILL DIE!"_ normal human shouting  
_**"COME AT ME BRO!"** _seriously angry/demonic entity shouting  
_**"just try it, tits!"** _seriously angry/demonic entity thoughts  
_***slice***_ sound effects  
_'you made me sad'_ flashbacks/thoughts of someone from long ago/writing_

* * *

**disclaimer: I don't own the game ib. just this story!**

* * *

**"shattered hearts"**

**ch1: prologue**

**XXXxx~~~oOo~~~xxXXX**

maybe its because she's a rowdy sleeper.

currently sprawled, un-elegantly across the cold hard wood of her floor, young ib stared blankly up at her ceiling, wondering why she always woke in such an unsightly fashion. its like her body has some sort of alarm that just flings her from her bed when its time to get up, as if that's what it should do. she doesn't complain though, it keeps her from being late for school. or worse getting chastised by her mother.

wiggling slightly, ib began working her way out of the tangles of the bed sheets. it didn't take her long, which is due to her years of experience in this sort of situation, and was soon walking her way to her bathroom and readying herself to bathe. she was done in only 7 minutes since she's a rather quick bather. around 7 minutes to brush her teeth, wash her hair, and bathe, then another two to dress.

stepping out from the fog that covered her bathroom, ib made her way to her bed where, as always, her clothing for the day sat. a white button up, a red skirt and frilly tie, white socks and a pair of shiny black shoes. a rather.. dressy outfit she had to say. perhaps something important was happening today? well at least her mother hadn't decided she had to wear a dress. ib wasn't too keen on those, but she'd wear it if she had to.

after throwing on her clothing, ib slowly walked her way out of her room and to the kitchen to get some food in her gut. and turning the corner she's greeted with the sight of her mother making breakfast and her father sitting at the dinner table, reading the daily newspaper quietly. an uncomfortable silence is hanging in the air, which was only broken when her mother gave her a warm greeting after seeing ib walk in.

"good morning dear," she smiles, lifting her egg covered spatula as she did. ib nods in acknowledgment as she sits down in an empty chair. the same chair she sits in every day. as always, her father sits at the head of the table, her mother sits on the opposite side and ib sits between them, on the side. ib thinks it has something to do with order or something.

her father only glanced at her, which she is used to, before going back to his newspaper. and just like that its silent once more. the only sound being the food her mothers making and the scraping of her spatula. its a thick silence.

"here you go," her mother placed two steamy hot plates of pancakes, bacon and eggs with some bread on the side down on the table, before walking back in the kitchen. she opened the fridge and pulled out some jam, a jar of mayonnaise and some syrup. putting them on the table she then pulled out some orange juice and three cups, pouring the juice before setting the cups on the table. just before getting her own food and also sitting at the dinner table she put the orange juice carton back in the refrigerator. as soon as she sat they began eating.

there was no conversation and ibs not even sad to say she didn't care anymore. she's already gotten used to it; the thick and uncomfortable silence. its something of daily occurrence.

"congrats ib," her mother suddenly said, which caused ib to pause, her fork only inches away from her parted lips. "congratulations?" ib wondered which caused her mother to sigh out loud, but smile at her anyway.

"it seems you've forgotten once again this year.. yes dear, "congratulations." your turning 9 today," her mothers smile widened and she gestured to ibs clothing. "why do you think your dressed like that?" she enjoyed the slight widening of her daughters eyes, which to others isn't much of a reaction, but coming from ib its a lot. the girl rarely felt enough to express anything.

"oh," ib heard her mother giggle at her short response, but ignored it and went back to eating. her mother pouted, which was odd for a grown adult, and crossed her arms. "ib~! haven't you noticed something different?" ib looked up and actually examined her parents and noticed their formal attire, but her parents are always dressed formally, so it wasn't anything different.

"is today Saturday?" she figured nothing would be different if her parent dressed to only go to work, but it would be weird if they dressed up on a day they both have off. not to mention she's dressed like this too. so when her mother nodded ib had already come up with a conclusion. "are we going out?" it was more of a statement than a question and it made the red eyed beauty grin.

"yes we are ib. so nice of you to figure it out," her mother complimented, clapping her hands and closing her eyes.

"we're going to the famous Weiss geuterna's art exhibit."

* * *

when she first entered, she had wondered about the simplicity of the building. she figured that such a famous artist would have a more... extravagant exhibit, considering how wealthy the man must've been, had he been alive. that's what she figured anyway, based on the adults she's met so far.

"come on ib, don't lag behind," her mothers voice called, breaking her from her observations. ib hurried forward, not wanting to anger her parents. holding on to her mothers larger palm, the adorable nine-year-old walked into the art gallery, her father standing besides his wife.

her parents conversed with the receptionist excitedly. well, her mother excitedly. her father just stood next to the woman, watching her with a slight smile on his lips, that smile turning into a frown a moment later. the dark-haired man, also known as the receptionist, handed the two a booklet filled with descriptions and pictures of the exhibits in the gallery. the receptionist had yet to notice ib, the girl realized. probably because she's shorter than the desk. what? she's only nine.

looking off to the side something caught her interest, flaming her childish curiousity like a furnace.

ib tugged on her mothers sleeve, drawing the womans attention. she pointed down the hall and her mother gave a slightly confused look. "oh, you want to go on ahead ib?"

ib nodded.

"hmm, alright. just don't cause a ruckus, ok?" ib's mother blinked, suddenly realizing something. "though, knowing you, that wont be a problem.."

ib began to walk away, towards that something with the nice color; it looked kind of cool. "be careful, ib!" her mother called after her. ib simply nodded, and continued on her way.

...

the thing she noticed that caught her attention was the purple hair of a taller-than-average male, standing before a painting, and oh so lost in thought. he seemed so focused on the painting, completely zoning out any and all other distractions - which is probably why he hadn't noticed her even when she stood right beside him. when she looked she realized he was looking at the painting called the "hanging man."

_"he's weird"_ ib decided, blinking up at the man and shamelessly observing him and his tattered coat wearing self. beneath said navy blue coat, was a lime green shirt, and brown skinny jeans. he wore a pair of brown shoes, old and dirty looking from months upon months of use. looking away from the handsome male, ib began to walk away, keeping a steady and calm pace as she did. he was different, especially with that weird spider design on his head. ib quite liked different, as she is different herself.

she had spent quite the while just looking at the pictures. they were more beautiful, more creative, and a lot more different from what she's seen in other artist. it was like they were real, like they could just crawl right out of those picture frames. the artist portrayed the mood of the drawings perfectly.

she didn't like it.

they were amazing yes, but there was something that was just.. wrong about them. it was something cold and dark like icy fingers trailing down her sensitive milky white skin. she shivered, her piercing red eyes staring up into the giant painting. she didn't like this painting the most out of all of them. it just seemed plain evil.

her eyes trailed downwards and looked over the name plate beneath the painting. she didn't know what the word meant, but she could read it, so...

"fabricated.. world,"

she somehow regretted reading that.

ib took a step back and turned her back to the painting, walking off, down the empty.. hall..

empty?

_"where did everyone go?"_ she thought. ib hurried her way back to the receptionists desk, hoping to find her parents still there. chatting excitedly with the dark-haired man. and when she finally made it to the desk, she paused in her steps, her heart beat quickening.

gone.

they weren't there.

everything was so deathly silent, the only sound being her light footsteps - which seemed so loud in such a silence - and her own breathing. there were no people, it was only her. _"maybe... they all went outside?"_ ib thought. yeah, that was it. something probably happened to one of the paintings or something, and the people were asked to empty the gallery. they simply forgot her, that was all.

she stepped up to the entrance doors and pushed... then pulled. her brows furrowed slightly, almost unnoticeably.

"its locked.." she mumbled to herself. keeping her calm she walked back to where she came from, eyes sliding over each and every detail of the gallery. the paintings, the frames, the white walls and even the dirt on the floor. she was looking for clues.

she stood in front of the huge painting once again, ruby-red eyes scanning the painting thoroughly. there was nothing different with the painting, so what's going on? with furrowed brows, ib looked around the hall, but found nothing. _"I should go look around,"_ she thought. she walked away from the painting, but as soon as she did blue.. paint dripped from beneath the paintings frame.

she stared at the blue paint for a second, but eventually stepped a bit closer. it read something, ib noticed, and she leaned closer to see it better.

**"come down below, ib. we'll show you someplace secret."** suddenly loud wet.. _splats!_ sounded from behind her, as if someone or_ something_ were running by. but just as soon as it happened, it stopped - the gallery once again silent.

ib took a tentative step back, looking left and right in silent surprise. _"what was that? how does it know my name?"_ she's pretty sure that she's never been here before. nor has she ever had any conversation with anyone besides her parents. (...and her fangirls/boys. lets not forget about them. did she mention she has fangirls/boys? no? well now she did.) so there was no way for anyone to possibly know her here. she doubted this was a prank either. it's too realistic, and ib can usually tell the difference.

ib almost tripped, her foot stepping on something wet. ib looked down and is surprised to see red paint. she removed her foot to see she had stepped on a letter "c", which is smudged from her stepping on it. she looked around seeing more letters and when she put them all together a chill ran down her spine.

**"come ib,"**

she walked away, shaking off the creepiness and noticed things were a lot different from earlier. where it was simply cold and quiet, now it was dark and creepy, as _well_ as silent. not to mention the paintings. they seemed to come alive. like the fruit in a bowl painting. when she walked by, a fruit fell from said painting. she looked at it and much to her dismay, it was real.

she had also walked by a cat painting, "your dark figure," if she remembered correctly. and- can you guess what it did?- it _meowed_ at her. unlike some of the others though, it didn't faze her. it was just a bit surprising, as was the "coughing man," who coughed when she walked by.

there were times when she thought she saw someone pass through the window. she had been so relieved, believing that perhaps it had been some sort of prank after all. she had even smiled. she knocked on the window and waited but saw and heard no one. she had been disappointed and moved to walk away, only to hear a loud banging sound from the window.

she rushed back, thinking that there _was_ someone there, only to be met with a red hand print, the paint dripping down the glass as if it were blood.

she had then just wandered around, unsure of what to do, everything getting darker and darker.

and here she was, standing before the painting called "abyss of the deep." there were blue foot prints that lead into the painting. ib bent down and caressed the water with the tips of her fingers and found that the painting was _actually_ water. it was cold, like the water of the school swimming pool.

ib looked around herself again then back to the painting, chewing the inside of her cheek. this just may be the only way out, ib realized with dread. the only way home. she wanted to see her parents- her mother- again, maybe they were looking for her?

building up her determination ib stood, took a step, and fell into the deep murky waters of the abyss.

**XXXxx~~~oOo~~~xxXXX**

**"shattered hearts"**

**ch1: prologue**

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**meh ish done. just a story I thought of and couldn't get out of my head, so I decided to share it with you fanfic bae's. so yeah. hope you enjoyed! this is actually a revise of the original chappy. this one makes more sense- hopefully- and is clearer, I think..**

**but anyway! I hope you enjoyed this little prologue, and meaning prologue I just wanted to give you the "back story" so to speak, before the actual story. **

**oh and just as a heads up. next ch. will also be a prologue. think of it as a part two of sorts. there might even be a part three, or just a really long chapter...**

**bye!**


	2. Chapter 2: numb

"i like cookies"_ normal human talking  
_"i will break your cookies"_ normal human thinking  
_**"I'm gonna' rip you to shreds"** _seriously angry/demonic entity talking  
_"YOU WILL DIE!"_ normal human shouting  
_**"COME AT ME BRO!"** _seriously angry/demonic entity shouting  
_**"just try it, tits!"** _seriously angry/demonic entity thoughts  
_***slice***_ sound effects  
_'you made me sad'_ flashbacks/thoughts of someone from long ago/writing_

* * *

**disclaimer: I don't own the game ib. just this story!**

* * *

**"shattered hearts"**

ch. 2: prologue part 2

**XXXxx~~~oOo~~~xxXXX**

"umm... young miss? are you ok? your not hurt are you?"

the concerned voice of an older female is what brought her back to reality.

blinking at the sudden intrusion of life, ib stood straighter, more alert, and regarded the old grey haired woman with a small bow. "sorry for troubling you," the ruby eyed child mumbled staring at the strands of hair that framed her face numbly, not really focusing on the conversation.

with hunched shoulders, the woman shifted her cane and looked curiously at the cute little girl, before tilting her head with a smile. it wasn't everyday you see such a young thing with such polite manners. especially not the pretty ones.

"oh come now," she chided lightly, waving away the girls apology. "its fine, nothing to feel sorry over. I was just a bit worried is all." her warm, but gravely voice had a somewhat soothing quality to it. kind of like what a grandmother would sound like, at least the grandmothers in the movies ib's seen. ib wouldn't know for sure, her parents, parents were already dead.

the old woman blinked and furrowed her brows when she realized the child had yet to stand up straight. "err... sweetie.. you can stand up now, you know," she informed the girl awkwardly, sighing in relief when the girl stood up straight. kind of like a princess, the old woman realized.

the woman chuckled at the thought, then coughed to make it seem as if she hadn't been laughing to herself, looking like a complete retard. "ah.. anyway," she croaked and gave a wrinkled smile. "you shouldn't just stand there. you need to pay attention to your surroundings," she took the small nod the girl gave her as a sign to keep on going. "what if some pervert decided to snatch you up while you weren't looking?" she asked and frowned worriedly at the thought. "if no one had noticed, you would be gone by now, that creepy pervert doing god knows what to you... oh, I cant think like that. if something like that happed i'd take this cane and shove it-"

she cut herself off when she looked into those blank crimson eyes and cringed. she forgot she was talking to a child of around.. 10 years maybe? she couldn't tell. the cute little girl was just so mature for her age, she kind of thought she'd been talking to someone much older.

_she was sure a young girl like this wouldn't completely understand_, is what she'd thought.

so it'd surprised her when the girl nodded in understanding, bowing once more. "i'll try to pay more attention, ma'am," came the curt and monotonous response, startling the elderly woman, who nodded slowly. she didn't think children could sound so...

dead.

"how old are you?" the girl straightened again from her bow, and they made eye contact. "nine," came the girls short response. she nodded sagely, inwardly surprised her guess was only wrong by one year. she kind of still thought the girl was older than she actually looked.

"hmm.." the old woman hummed, closing her eyes in thought. "your pretty young to be walking around here all by yourself. where are your parents honey?" she asked. ib blinked at the concerned question. "i don't know," and she answered truthfully, but regretted it when the older womans eyes widened in slight horror and surprise. "you don't know.." the old woman mouthed incredulously.

"ah.." ib sounded quietly, her own little sound of surprise, only voiced in monotone. "i wanted to look around by myself," she said, vaguely remembering seeing something interesting. it was... something purple.. or was it blue? she couldn't remember.

her memory was hazy.

the woman nodded, her long white locks bouncing, and hesitated to rid herself of her worry. "alright honey. just don't get lost," she said and began walking away, using her cane as support. ib nodded, and turned back to the painting. she didn't know why, but she felt a small bout of dread when she took in the different arrays of shades and colors.

"the fabricated world"

ib found it odd how she was suddenly hyper aware of her own heartbeat. loud and quick, and almost painful with how intensely it pulsed. she could even feel the blood shooting through her skull. maybe she should go see the doctor, ib thought dully.

ib blinked and wondered why the title of a simple painting brought forth such a reaction. she didn't know anything at all sentimental about the painting, so why? she didn't have any connection to the painting.

...

did she?

she made a small sound in the back of her throat and casually played off her sudden stumble by adjusting her shoe. her head hurt, but she made no move to acknowledge it. she didn't need anyone worrying about her, only Ga-

huh?

ib blinked.

who's name was she about to think? she didn't know anyone who's name started with a 'g'. well maybe a few classmates and a teacher at her school, but not anyone whom she'd bother to remember. no one interested her enough to.

she pondered this, but after coming up with nothing, shrugged mentally and decided to go look around some more. well.. that's what she planned, but the voice of the old woman interrupted her.

turning around and ignoring the way her hair slapped her in the face ib stared up at the white haired woman as said woman smiled sheepishly. "hehe... sorry.." ib didn't respond to the womans apology. instead she waited for the woman to continue.

"i forgot to ask for your name, actually," she said, then muttered something about her old age under her breath. her eyes brightened suddenly as if she'd remembered something.

"oh, just in case you wanted to know, my name is December," December interrupted and smiled happily, ignoring the blank look on the red eyed childs face. she decided to elaborate. "I know, weird name right? my mom thought it was pretty, and honestly, i do too, especially since i'm the twelfth child she birthed. she said she'd always wanted to name her first baby January, and she did, but then February and valentine popped out, their twins by the way, so mom decided to name us all based on the months. and the youngest twins in the family were named the holiday in that month," December laughed heartily, eyes closed and grin wide. it gave ib the perfect view of the old lady's yellowing teeth. "we all actually think its pretty cool, especially with the look people get on their faces when we-"

"ib."

December paused and furrowed her brows in confusion, scratching her cheek "uh.." and stuttered. "sorry, what was that?"

ib tilted her at the weird lady. she didn't really act as old and frail as she looked, funnily enough. just like how ib didn't act as ignorant and young as she looked either. ib pressed a hand against her non existent chest and repeated what she'd told the woman but a few seconds ago.

December stared, then smiled a wrinkly old smile, eyes glittering with an emotion ib didn't understand. "ib huh?" ib didn't respond to the question that obviously wasn't a question. "that's a beautiful name." ib blinked at that. beautiful? that sounded eerily familiar..

"welp, its nice meeting you, ib," the woman continued to smile brightly. "i hope to see you again someday!" and this time the lady left for real, never noticing the stare she'd received from the young red-eyed girl.

as soon as the woman was out of sight, ib slowly turned away and walked off.

_that lady was so weird,_ ib mused. interesting, but weird. and unlike so many others, she was different, which ib really liked about her. she especially likes that about Gar-

and the headache was back.

ib massaged her forehead, then shook her head and blocked the pain out for now. as she mentioned before, she didn't want anyone worrying over her. _"now,"_ ib straightened. _"where are my parents.."_ ib walked around the gallery with the sudden urge to find her parents. she didn't know why but she felt she needed to reassure herself with something. she also felt like she'd been trying to look for them not too long ago too.

ib looked up, just in time to avoid walking head first in to a white wall. on said wall was a painting she didn't remember seeing. blinking, she read the plaque, since she was already staring at it.

"forgotten portrait"

her vision swirled, she suddenly felt nauseated, and there was a suffocating feeling in her chest. like her throat was being constricted. ib didn't understand what it was, all she knew was that it was a feeling she didn't like.

she looked up slowly, and for a second her eyes were wide, because she.. she _knew_ this person.

it was a boy, with lavender hair, and broad shoulders. he wore a tattered navy blue jacket, and a lime green tank underneath. brown skinny jeans and worn shoes a darker shade of brown than his pants. his eye were closed as if he were asleep, dreaming peacefully, surrounded by beautiful blue flowers, and creepy blue dolls. it was so mesmerizing, and beautiful, and perfect, but so wrong, and sad, and stupid, and unfair, and cruel, and heart breaking.. and...

and this is _Garry_.

ib stepped closer to the painting, and let her hand run across the rough texture, knowingly ignoring the gallery's rules. she just wanted to feel him, but the texture felt rough, like dried paint. she couldn't feel the softness of his skin.

and instead of breaking down into sobs, and shouts, and screams, as much as she knew she should have, like all the others would have, ib smiled. but there was no warmth to it. it was an empty smile.

"oh, garry.." she wanted him to open his eyes, and let them fill her hallow insides with their warmth. she wanted him to hold her in his arms and make her feel better again, because something inside of her broke, and crumbled and she knew that something inside her died.

numbly, ib let her hand slide back to her side and simply stared at the painting. she took in all the details that she might have missed, like the slight shadowing beneath his long eye lashes, and stored it all into memory. every single thing. every color and even every wrinkle in the teens clothing. she memorized it all.

and with something akin to determination, but was closer to desperation, she vowed to come back for him.

all too soon, though, a hand placed itself onto her shoulder, jolting her from her reverie, just as her mothers voice reached her ears. "ib! here you are, you had me scared to death!" the woman breathed a sigh of relief, and didn't think twice about the girls silence. ib was always silent after all.

taking the small girls hand in her own, the two parents left the gallery, bidding farewell to the receptionist, and headed towards the car. "honestly.." she sighed, and helped the child into the car, before getting herself seated in the passengers side. her husband already sat in the drivers seat, buckled and ready. he didn't seem very worried, if at all. she shifted and buckled her seatbelt as they pulled out of the parking lot and into the streets. "you had us worried, ib. I thought you'd been kidnapped or something of the sort- ib?"

it wasn't until then that the ruby eyed woman noticed the childs haunted expression.

"ib?" unbuckling her seatbelt, she quickly twisted in her seat, worried and confused as she reaches for her daughter. "honey..?" she wondered and took the small girls hand in her own. she opened her mouth to speak again.

"are-"

but the car jerked suddenly. there was a long and dreadful honk, followed by a loud skidding and her parents screams, before ibs world was blinded by a sharp pain.

then there was blissful unconsciousness.

**XXXxx~~~oOo~~~xxXXX**

**"shattered hearts"**

ch. 2: prologue part 2

* * *

**welp, the second part of the prologue-ish thing is done. took a while 'cause I've been busy with school and _other_ plot bunnies. so I was left with trying to write down story ideas until the inspiration left me to my own devices. _then_ I had to get inspired _again_ to actually work on the darn story. tough times, yo.**

**anyway, this chapter felt kind of boring, but I didn't want to just rush off into the last scene, ... which still felt kind of rushed either way, so I obviously failed. dang it.. =-=**

**oh and I suck at emotional stuff, as you can probably tell, since, like, I barely feel anything in the first place. so if you'd like you guys can write a review, personal or not, and explain stuff to meh. emotions, or just something about writing in general... sigh.**

**R&amp;R, yo. I need it to survive.**


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